How to Apply to Work as a Medical Officer in Singapore 2014

As a foreigner, to apply to work as a medical officer in Singapore, you will need to register with the following 3 institutions:

1. MOH Holdings Pte Ltd (MOHH), which is entrusted with the task of recruiting/employing qualified foreign medical graduates to work as doctors (and other healthcare professionals) in Singapore.

2. Singapore Medical Council (SMC), which is responsible for ensuring that medical professionals practising in Singapore meet certain expected standards, i.e. graduated from recognized universities, completed housemanship satisfactorily, etc.

3. Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which is responsible for the welfare of all employees in Singapore, and which issues employment passes to foreign workers so that they can enter Singapore to work.

MOHH:

1. Before applying for employment under MOHH to work as a doctor, check if the medical course offered by your university is recognized by SMC according to their List of Registrable Basic Medical Degrees.

2. To apply for employment under MOHH, visit their Medical Service Scheme website, where you can read about the available career pathways as a doctor in Singapore and the required conditions for the application of the posts of House Officer, Medical Officer and Consultant respectively.

3. Download their Employment Form, fill it up, scan it together with all the necessary documents as detailed on their website, then email the whole package to physician@mohh.com.sg.

4. After receiving your documents, MOHH will arrange for a job interview with you. If you are lucky enough to have MOHH visit your country during that time for a roadshow/information session, the interview can then be arranged for that time and place. Otherwise, you may have to come to Singapore for the job interview at MOHH's headquarters. 

SMC:

1. SMC has detailed the process on Becoming A Registered Doctor in Singapore.

MOM:

1. MOM has detailed information on Foreign Manpower for foreigners working in Singapore.

Summary:

I would recommend the following streamlined procedure for the application to work as a medical officer in Singapore:

At work:

1. Ask your supervising Medical Doctors or Institutions for the preceding 3 years to prepare:

Certificates of service or service testimonials for your work experience for the preceding 3 years, indicating grade of employment, nature of work, period of employment, and assessment of work performance, etc. My sample is here (page 1) and here (page 2).

It would be easier if you could prepare a template for them to sign, if they are agreeable.

At home:

1. Prepare a softcopy of your CV detailing your full personal particulars, your contact number and email address, your educational and professional qualifications, your career history and aspirations, your present and expected salary, the names of 2 professional references.

2 A softcopy of your recent passport-sized photograph (taken within the last 3 months in colour and against a white background).

3. Scan and save a copy of the following documents:

3.1 Malaysian NRIC front and back

3.2 Malaysian Passport

3.3 SPM and STPM/UEC/A-Levels results

3.4 Basic Medical Degree and Transcript of Academic Record

3.5 Certificate of passing your country's Medical Licensing Examination (if your country has a medical licensing exam eg. Taiwan)

3.6  Certificate of Medical Registration from your country of practice eg. Full Registration Certificate, Provisional Registration Certificate

3.7 Certificate of completion of housemanship/internship training, with details on the period spent in each discipline.

3.8 Certificates of service or service testimonials for work experience for the preceding 3 years, from the supervising Medical Doctors or Institutions concerned, indicating grade of employment, nature of work, period of employment, and assessment of work performance, etc.

3.9 Evidence of proficiency in English language (2-year validity) eg. IELTS/TOEFL/OET (if your basic medical degree is obtained from a medical school where the medium of instruction is not English eg. Taiwan)

• If any of the above documents are not in English, please provide a certified true copy of the English translation as well, together with the original documents.
• MOHH can help to certify certain documents, eg. NRIC, Passport, basic medical degree, but you will have to check with them for further details.

4. Download MOHH's Employment Form, fill it up, scan it together with the above documents, then email the whole package to physician@mohh.com.sg. You can clarify with MOHH regarding the details of any of the above documents. (Basically MOHH only needs items 1,2,3.1-3.4 initially, but sooner or later they will ask you for items 3.5-3.9 for registration with SMC.) Await and attend the job interview with MOHH.

5. Contact your medical school and arrange for them to send a Letter of Verification (LV) directly to SMC, the details of which can be found at SMC's Documentation Requirements website under Heading (D).

6. Contact your current medical council/licensing institution and arrange for them to send a Certificate of Good Standing (CGS) (3-month validity) directly to SMC, the details of which can be found at SMC's Documentation Requirements website under Heading (E).

7. If your job interview with MOHH went well, MOHH will then send you their Letter of Offer and MOHH MOPEX Posting Form for you to fill up and acknowledge. MOHH will also send you the application forms for registration with SMC and MOM. (Yes, the initial application with SMC and MOM is through the employer MOHH.) Fill up all the forms and return them to MOHH.

8. MOHH will inform you if your application with SMC is successful. If it is, you will then be required to book an appointment with SMC to verify your documents, and for them to issue you your Practising Certificate.

9. MOHH will also inform you if your application with MOM is successful. If it is, you will then be asked to book an appointment with MOM, so that they can issue you your Employment Pass, which will facilitate your entry into Singapore at Singapore's immigration checkpoint.

There you go. I hope this will be helpful to all Malaysian doctors hoping to work in Singapore! Good luck!

Updated 26/04/2015